ArticleAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI2022
Is Virtual Fencing an Effective Way of Enclosing Cattle? Personality, Herd Behaviour and Welfare.
Article in Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- How do grazing beef and dairy cattle respond to virtual fences? A review.Journal of animal science · 2024Pooled it
- Animal Individual Factors Dictate Learning Strategy: An Integrated Analysis of Cattle Adaptation to a Virtual Fencing System.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Behavior Classification of Cattle in a Virtual Fencing System Using Tri-Axial Accelerometers and Machine Learning.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Differential response of Angus-Hereford and Rarámuri Criollo cattle to a dynamic feeding challenge during the training to an autonomous virtual fencing collar.Journal of animal science · 2026Article
- Training Rarámuri Criollo Cattle to Virtual Fencing in a Chaparral Rangeland.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Mapping activity of grazing cattle using commercial virtual fencing technology.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
- Spatial Distribution and Hierarchical Behaviour of Cattle Using a Virtual Fence System.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Using Activity Measures and GNSS Data from a Virtual Fencing System to Assess Habitat Preference and Habitat Utilisation Patterns in Cattle.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Effects of Social Facilitation and Introduction Methods for Cattle on Virtual Fence Adaptation.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Stress indicators in dairy cows adapting to virtual fencing.Journal of animal science · 2024Article
- A matter of age? How age affects the adaptation of lactating dairy cows to virtual fencing.Journal of animal science · 2024Article
- Behavioral Adaptations of Nursing Brangus Cows to Virtual Fencing: Insights from a Training Deployment Phase.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Stakeholder Challenges and Opportunities of GPS Shock Collars to Achieve Optimum Welfare in a Conservation or Farm Setting.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Precision technologies to improve dairy grazing systems.JDS communications · 2023Review
- The Effectiveness of Virtual Fencing of Bull Calves in a Holistic Grazing System.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Automated Virtual Fencing Can Effectively Contain Sheep: Field Trials and Prospects.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Animal board invited review: Grassland-based livestock farming and biodiversity.Animal : an international journal of animal bioscience · 2022Review
- Cortisol in Manure from Cattle Enclosed with Nofence Virtual Fencing.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Current and Future Approaches to Mitigate Conflict between Humans and Asian Elephants: The Potential Use of Aversive Geofencing Devices.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In modern nature conservation and rewilding there is a need for controlling the movements of large grazers in extensively managed areas. The inflexibility of physical fencing can be a limitation in nature management, and the physical boundaries created by physical fencing can have detrimental effects on wildlife. Virtual fencing systems provide boundaries without physical structures. These systems utilise collars with GPS technology to track animals and deliver auditory or electric cues to encourage the animals to stay within the predefined boundaries. This study aims to assess the use of virtual fencing (Nofence©) to keep twelve Angus cows (Bos taurus) within a virtual enclosure without compromising their welfare. As such, the study examines inter-individual differences between the cows as well as their herd behaviour, when reacting and learning to respond appropriately to virtual fencing. Moreover, the activity of the cows was used as an indicator of welfare. The virtual fencing was successful in keeping the herd within the designated area. Moreover, the cattle learned to avoid the virtual border and respond to auditory cues, where the cows received significantly more auditory warning and electric impulses per week throughout the first 14 days than the remaining 125 days (p < 0.001). The cows were found to express both inter-individual differences (p < 0.001) and herd behaviour. The cattle did not express any significant changes in their activity upon receiving an electrical impulse from the collar. Thus, indicating that there were little to no acute welfare implications associated with the use of virtual fencing in this study. This study clearly supports the potential for virtual fencing as a viable alternative to physical electric fencing. However, it also shows that both individual differences in personality and herd structure should be considered when selecting individuals for virtual fencing.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.